“A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CONSULTING ENGINEER”
Vela VKE (Part of the SMEC Group) had two emphases for job shadowing in 2012.
Firstly, twenty three ( 23) students came from Cosmo City Secondary 1 School for aday programme. In the morning our female YP’s and others gave overviews of thedifferent civil engineering disciplines and projects. We also included “Image inthe Workplace” about how to dress and image in the corporate world and anexperiential learning exercise designing their own bridge.
The afternoon was a visit to the BRT Underpass site in Johannesburg where theconstruction process and challenges encountered was explained by our site staff.The railway line could not be taken out of operation. Construction involvedbuilding 2 tunnel structures on either side of the railway line embankment andjacking them into the embankment to meet in the middle. This required perfect
Producer of 48 Hrs briefing everyone on what is requiredProducer of 48 Hrs briefing everyone on what is required
2 of our YP’sGugu Sidinile & Meghan
Brinkley
2 of our YP’sGugu Sidinile & Meghan
Brinkley
Dave Gertzen (Office Head (Jhb ) welcoming the students
to our job shadowing day
Dave Gertzen (Office Head (Jhb ) welcoming the students
to our job shadowing day
Curtis Peens telling the students how the tunnel was Curtis Peens telling the
students how the tunnel was jacking them into the embankment to meet in the middle. This required perfectalignment and the utmost precision which the students found intriguing.
According to the report back we now have more potential excited engineers in thepipeline.
Secondly, we partnered with Ochre Media and 2 students (Mbali and Nhanhla)from Senaoane High School in Soweto to film en episode of 48 Hours. Thisprogramme was aired on SABC 2 .
The students were taken around the offices and to the N12 Section 19 site and weregiven opportunities to raise any questions which they had. The extent of the worksincludes widening and rehabilitation of the existing road on both carriageways,including the widening of 3 bridges, main carriageway and on and off ramps.
The students were exposed to what it means to be a Civil Engineer. The TV viewinghas reached a large audience and helped to inform many more students who maynow consider civil engineering as a career.
Sound Engineer from Ochre Media demonstrating how to project
speech
Sound Engineer from Ochre Media demonstrating how to project
speech
Meghan and the students arriving at the site officeMeghan and the students arriving at the site office
students how the tunnel was jacked underneath a railway
line
students how the tunnel was jacked underneath a railway
line
Meghan explaining to a group of students the challenge to design a low cost bridge
Meghan explaining to a group of students the challenge to design a low cost bridge
AB Carter showing the students the various stages of
the project
AB Carter showing the students the various stages of
the project